Sara J. Holland joins the Pro Bono Partnership as its new senior staff attorney:
In January 2006 the Pro Bono Partnership was extremely pleased to
welcome Sara, who will work
primarily in the Newark office, as
the new senior staff attorney.
Sara, who is admitted to practice
law in New Jersey and New York, was
in-house counsel with State Farm
Indemnity Company. Sara was also a
volunteer attorney with Trial
Lawyers Care, Inc. and represented
families of victims of the September
11th World Trade Center
attacks. Sara is currently on the
board of trustees and serves as
secretary of the New York Coalition
for Healthy School Lunches.
New Publications posted on the Pro Bono Partnership
Website
The Pro Bono Partnership online
employment law treatise is being
updated: Our online employment law treatise has been undergoing a
complete review. Look for updated
sections soon, including newly added
sections specific to New Jersey.
Spotlight on Clients and Volunteers
·2005 American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Award Given to Johnson &
Johnson
On February 17, 2006 Tracy Elise
Poole, Assistant General Counsel at
Johnson & Johnson, accepted the ABA
Pro Bono Award on behalf of General
Counsel Russ Deyo and the Johnson &
Johnson Law Department at a ceremony
in San Diego, California. Tracy,
the Pro Bono Coordinator for Johnson
& Johnson in New Brunswick, New
Jersey, acknowledged the
extraordinary volunteer efforts of
her colleagues, including Lisa
Warren, Bob Zocca, Kirk Baumeister,
and Phil Crowley. Additionally,
Tracy shared her profound gratitude
to the Pro Bono Partnership for
providing the Johnson & Johnson Law
Department with unique opportunities
to assist nonprofits, as well as
supporting Johnson & Johnson
volunteers with expertise in
non-profit law. Congratulations to
Tracy and the Johnson & Johnson Law
Department for its sustained
dedication to pro bono practice and
their work with charitable
organizations!
·
Pro Bono Partnership Volunteer
Attorney Wins Favorable Ruling on
Confidentiality Issue
In a recent Connecticut Superior Court decision Jeff White, of Robinson
& Cole, LLP, won a favorable ruling
for one of our clients, upholding a
statutory privilege protecting the
confidentiality of information
supplied by victims of domestic
abuse to their counselors. (Please
note that this is a trial level
decision, potentially subject to
appeal).
Frequently Asked Questions
Every day nonprofits call the
Partnership’s office with
questions about how the law impacts
their day-to-day operations. New
questions addressed in this issue
include:
·Can “non-itemizers” deduct charitable donations to our
organization?
·How much liability insurance should a nonprofit have?
·We are a membership organization that does not act like
one. What should we do?
·I am a volunteer board member of a nonprofit organization.
Does my homeowner’s liability policy
provide protection for claims
arising from my service as a board
member volunteer?
·We have applied for 501c3 status but have not yet received
formal recognition from the IRS.
Are donations deductible? What type
of acknowledgment should we provide
our donors?
By following this link to the
Partnership’s website, you
can review our staff attorneys’
responses to these and other
frequently asked questions. Click Here
Upcoming Workshops
The Pro Bono Partnership
offers EDUCATION WORKSHOPS on legal
issues of particular importance to
staff and directors of nonprofit
organizations.
Click herefor more
information about our upcoming
workshops in New Jersey, New York
and Connecticut during the Spring
and Summer 2006.
Legal Alerts and Recent Developments
Federal
New User Fee Schedule Effective
July 1, 2006
The IRS has announced increases in selected user fees for Exempt
Organizations. Effective July 1,
2006, the fee for an initial
application for exemption (i.e., an
IRS determination letter) for
organizations with anticipated gross
receipts of $10,000 or less will be
raised from $150 to $300. The fee
for an IRS determination letter for
organizations expecting to have
greater than $10,000 in annual gross
receipts will be raised from $500 to
$750. The fee for group exemption
will be raised from $500 to $900.
Please check complete fee schedule
changes here.
IRS Releases New Guidance and
Results of Political
Intervention Examinations
On February 24, 2006 the IRS released a report on its study of
political activity by tax-exempt
organizations during the 2004
election campaign. Violations of the
prohibition on political activity
were found in 59 of the 82 examined
cases. These violations form the
basis of a more rigorous IRS program
to educate tax-exempt charities of
the legal prohibitions against
engaging in political campaigns and
the consequences of violating them.
The report is entitled, “IRS
Reports on Political Activity
Compliance Initiative.”
Final USERRA (Military Leave)
Regulations From Department of
Labor in Effect January 18, 2006
In December 2005 The United States Department of Labor issued final
regulations under the Uniformed
Services Employment and Reemployment
Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). The
regulations do not impose any new
requirements on employers but do
provide new guidance on some
technical issues and turn the
Department of Labor’s internal
guidance on USERRA issues into
binding regulations. Employees
protected under USERRA include
extended active duty enlistees,
mobilized reservists, ROTC students,
those absent for pre-enlistment
physicals, and volunteers in the
National Disaster Medical System and
NDMS training programs. The
Department of Labor requires
employers to provide notice to their
employees of USERRA rights. This
requirement may be satisfied by
displaying a poster published by the
Department of Labor, which is
available for download here.
US Department of Treasury Issues Revised
Anti-Terrorist Financing
Guidelines
In November 2005 the US Department
of Treasury issued revised
anti-terrorist financing guidelines,
designed to help enhance awareness
in the donor and charitable
communities of the kinds of
practices charities may adopt to
reduce the risk of financing
terrorist activities. These revised guidelines replace the former guidelines issued in November 2002.
New York
·New York State Lobbying Act is Revised to Effect Registration
Requirements and Definition of Lobbying
The New York Lobbying Act requires
individuals and corporations (including
nonprofit corporations) that engage in
lobbying activity to register and
periodically report their lobbying
expenditures to the New York State
Temporary State Commission on Lobbying.
The Act, which previously defined
lobbying activity as “the attempt to
influence decisions of agencies and
officials in New York,” has expanded the
definition to include “communications
intended to influence decisions on state
and city procurement contracts.”
Additionally, the Act increases the
threshold for registration from annual
expenditures of $2,000 to $5,000.
Please visit the Commission’s website at
http://www.nylobby.state.ny.us
for the full text of the Act, or contact
the Partnership with questions.
New Jersey
·Audit Threshold Rises for Nonprofits under New Jersey Law
On January 9, 2006, Acting Governor Codey signed into law the Charitable Registration and Investigation Act,
which goes into effect July 9, 2006.
The Act imposes the following
requirements:
·
Charitable organizations with gross
revenue of $250,000 or more must file a
financial statement that has been
audited by an independent CPA (formerly,
this requirement was applicable to
organizations with gross revenue of
$100,000 or more);
·
If a charity’s gross revenue is less
than $250,000, but more than $25,000,
that charity must file a financial
report that is certified by the
charity’s president or other authorized
officer;
·
Registration requirements do not apply
to any charitable organization whose
fundraising does not exceed $10,000, if
the fundraising activities are done by
volunteers.
New Jersey Charitable Immunity Act
Does Not Apply to Incidences of
Sexual Offenses Against Minors
On January 5, 2006 Acting Governor Codey signed into law revisions to the New Jersey Charitable Immunity Act.
Effective on that date, the revised Act
no longer applies to lawsuits alleging
the negligent hiring, supervision or
retention of an “employee, agent or
servant” by a charity, resulting in a
sexual offense against a person under
the age of 18 years. A retroactivity
provision allows plaintiffs with suits
currently in the judicial system,
including those on appeal, to proceed
without the charitable immunity defense
being available to non-profit
defendants. A final version of the Act
is available at:
The New Jersey Election Law
Enforcement Commission (ELEC) Adopts
Final Lobbyist Registration and
Reporting Regulations
On January 1, 2006, ELEC implemented new regulations to New Jersey’s
lobby disclosure laws. These
regulations significantly expand
registration and reporting requirements
for individuals and organizations that
engage in lobbying activities, and
expand the lobbying activities covered
by the previous regulations. For the
full text of the New Regulations, please
click here.
New Jersey Court Finds Employers
Liable to Third Parties for Harm
Caused by Employee’s At Work
Computer Use
In a recent NJ Appeals Court decision the Court found an employer
liable for harm to a third party, caused
by its failure to act upon discovery of
an employee’s use of the company’s
computers to view pornography. The
Court found that the employer had an
affirmative duty to investigate the
unrelated business activities of
employees at the workplace, particularly
involving computer usage. If the
employer discovers unlawful conduct
(e.g., the viewing and/or uploading of
child pornography), it must report it to
the appropriate authorities.
To apply for legal assistance from the
Pro Bono Partnership
IRS Circular 230 Disclosure : To ensure
compliance with requirements imposed by
the IRS, we inform you that (i) any tax
advice contained in this communication
(including any attachments or
enclosures) was not intended or written
to be used, and cannot be used, for the
purpose of avoiding penalties under the
Internal Revenue Code; and (ii) any such
tax advice is written in connection with
the promotion or marketing of the
matters addressed; and (iii) you should
seek advice based on your particular
circumstances from an independent
advisor.
The information provided in this email
newsletter was prepared by Pro Bono
Partnership for educational purposes
only and should not be considered legal
advice on any specific matter; nor does
the distribution or receipt of this
e-newsletter signify an attorney-client
relationship between Pro Bono
Partnership and the recipient. The
content of this e-newsletter is subject
to copyright protection.
